Eight big questions for this weekend's matches

Will Villa have too much for Spurs' injury-hit midfield?

In theory, the hard part is over. Aston Villa’s successive 1-0 victories over Fulham and AFC Bournemouth, taking them to seven wins from eight matches in the Premier League, have left just the two Uefa Europa League finalists – Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United – to beat.

With the final coming up next Wednesday, Spurs could be distracted, heavily rotated, and be keen to avoid injuries.

They are also in poor form domestically, winning just one of their last 10 Premier League matches (against relegated Southampton) and falling to a 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace last weekend.

As if we didn’t have enough reasons to assume Villa – likely to race out of the blocks in front of a boisterous Villa Park crowd – will win the three points, we can add to the list an injury to Spurs' Dejan Kulusevski.

He joins James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall on the treatment table, leaving Ange Postecoglou with a significantly weakened midfield.

Amadou Onana, Villa's star at Bournemouth last Saturday, should dominate the midfield battle again, while Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins will enjoy cutting through Spurs' disjointed lines in the transition, just as Palace did.

Villa are heavy favourites. To fall at this penultimate hurdle would be a huge disappointment.

Will Amorim's words fire up Man Utd against Chelsea?

We may anticipate a similarly lopsided contest at Stamford Bridge where, like Spurs, Man Utd may prepare for the Europa League final by resting first-team players.

That’s what Ruben Amorim did for the 4-3 defeat at Brentford, four days before the second leg of their Europa League semi-final. United’s starting 11 had an average age of 22 years and 270 days, the third-youngest side ever named in a Premier League match.

But things might be different this time.

After the 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham United last weekend, Amorim appeared to be very upset with his team. "Everybody here has to think seriously about a lot of things," he said.

"Everybody is thinking about the final. The final is not the issue. We have bigger things to think about."

That might signal a strong team selection against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It certainly indicates that Amorim expects a big performance on Friday, and if Man Utd are fired up, they can get a result.

Man Utd have lost just four of the 10 matches they have played this season against the current top six and three of those four defeats came in the only three matches in which they held more than 50% possession.

That’s because Amorim has continued the Erik ten Hag model for big matches: sit deep, keep things tight and wait for opportunities to counter-attack.

The 1-1 draw with Chelsea back in November is a rare exception, being one of the few matches Man Utd played under interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. He deployed a kamikaze 4-2-4, creating a stretched game of transitions that clearly favoured Enzo Maresca’s side.

Should Amorim watch a video of that match in preparation, it will only strengthen his resolve to deploy a conservative system, particularly given Nicolas Jackson’s absence through suspension could make it particularly difficult for Chelsea to break down a low block.

Despite the Europa League final shadow looming over this one, Friday could be the day Chelsea drop out of the top five.

Can Everton leave Goodison Park on a high?

This week's fantastic news that Goodison Park will become the home of Everton Women has taken the sting out of what was set to be a mournful goodbye on Sunday.

Instead, the farewell for Everton's men's team is now purely a celebration of their time at one of football’s most iconic stadiums.

It’s a ground steeped in history. Opened in 1892 as the first major football stadium to have its own changing rooms, Goodison Park was a landmark ground in the professionalisation of football in England.

In 1894, it became the first dedicated football stadium to host an FA Cup final, a 4-1 victory for Notts County against Bolton Wanderers. It’s also where Pele became the first player to score in three consecutive World Cups, in 1966 and where Dick, Kerr Ladies drew a crowd of 53 000 in 1920 - a record attendance for a women’s football match that stood for 98 years.

How fitting, then, that it will soon belong to Everton’s women's team: another historic moment for Goodison Park.

The stadium will live on, but the men’s side will want to make their 2 789th and final match there a good one, not least because even the current manager has a rich history here.

It was on this ground that David Moyes took Everton to a fourth-place finish in 2004/05, managed a Uefa Champions League qualifier against Villarreal and brought through a teenager by the name of Wayne Rooney.

Everton rose to the occasion in the final men's Merseyside derby to be played at Goodison Park, in February, when James Tarkowski’s 97th-minute volley prevented Liverpool from winning the bragging rights.

Fans will be hoping for one last show on Sunday.

Will Bowen v Morato mismatch continue Forest’s frustration?

One win from their last six Premier League matches has left Nottingham Forest’s Champions League dreams dangling by a thread. They need to win their last two fixtures, including a tough home game against Chelsea on the final day, and still hope for a favour from Villa.

All eyes are on the showdown with Chelsea and yet Forest must first navigate a surprisingly thorny match at London Stadium.

West Ham’s 2-0 victory at Man Utd was a huge moment for Graham Potter. It could spark the beginning of a new era in east London.

If West Ham are rejuvenated by that win at Old Trafford, they might just frustrate a tired-looking Forest, especially when considering the mismatch between Jarrod Bowen and Morato.

Leicester City’s equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Forest last weekend came when Facundo Buonanotte danced through the defence far too easily, with Morato – deputising for the injured Murillo – missing a tackle in the build-up to the goal.

Bowen, who played as a No 9 at Old Trafford, is most effective when running straight at defenders.

He has been involved in six goals in his last six Premier League matches (four goals, two assists), scoring in each of his last three at home.

The Morato-Bowen battle could be game-defining – and season-defining for Forest.

Can Brentford all-but secure eighth spot with a fifth straight win?

A weekend of results in Brentford's favour may have left Thomas Frank’s side needing just three more points to secure eighth place, which will mean European qualification if Manchester City win the FA Cup.

The visit of Fulham is a cup final, then and one of the biggest games in Brentford's history.

Should Brentford win, they will finish eighth irrespective of their final-day result at Wolves - unless Brighton & Hove Albion can get at least four points from their final two matches against Spurs and Liverpool, or Bournemouth can win both of their games against Man City and Leicester.

The stars are aligning, although to get the job done, Brentford will need to match a record set 86 years ago.

Frank’s side have won each of their last four Premier League matches and have only once in their history won more matches consecutively in the top flight, back in 1939.

If there was ever a time to mimic that pre-war high, this is it.

Will Vardy get a goalscoring send-off at Leicester?

Jamie Vardy will make his 500th and final Leicester appearance on Sunday, the club has confirmed, so he can sign off in front of the home fans at the King Power Stadium instead of in an away match, at Bournemouth the following weekend. All parties need to prepare themselves for an emotional goodbye.

Not many football fans get to watch their club at its historic peak.

Everyone inside the King Power Stadium on Sunday knows how special this time has been; knows they have seen the glory days; and knows they have spent 13 years watching the greatest player in Leicester’s history.

The rest of us will feel more than a twinge of sadness, too. Vardy is in the pantheon of Premier League greats and a true legend of English football.

He might not boast the technical ability or even the raw numbers of the likes of Alan Shearer, Rooney, or Thierry Henry but Vardy is immortal in a unique way.

No footballer embodies an era, like Vardy does Leicester’s miracle. Few have a gait, a style, or a vibe as iconic as Vardy’s.

When you consider the kind of fairytale career he’s had - rising from non-league Stocksbridge Park Steels to Premier League champion - it feels inevitable that Vardy will score his 200th Leicester goal in his final home game.

Can Newcastle leapfrog Arsenal into second place?

Arsenal aren’t over the line yet, not quite.

One win in six Premier League matches has left them still needing one more point to guarantee a top-five finish and although you would expect them to get it at Southampton on the final day, Mikel Arteta will want to avoid the ignominy of being dragged into the Champions League race.

It would hurt, too, if Arsenal missed out on a runners-up spot, which will surely happen if Newcastle United win at Emirates Stadium this weekend, leapfrogging them into second.

Recent results suggest it’s definitely on the cards.

Newcastle have beaten Arsenal three times already this season, winning 1-0 in the Premier League and 2-0 in both legs of their EFL Cup semi-final. No team have ever beaten the Gunners four times in one campaign.

Arsenal are also winless in their last four home matches in all competitions and have lost their last two in a row.

A first runners-up spot since Kevin Keegan’s entertaining side challenged for the title in 1996/97 is coming into view for Newcastle.

Will Salah set a new Premier League goals and assists record?

Mohamed Salah’s form has dipped dramatically over the last seven Premier League matches, mainly because the quality of his shooting, and his teammates’ shooting, has declined.

But he still has time to set a new Premier League record for goals and assists in a single season, which would confirm Salah’s 2024/25 as the greatest individual campaign in the competition’s history.

Salah is currently one short of the record, set at 47 by Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer in 1993/94 and 1994/95 respectively.

He needs two more goal involvements, and next up is one of his favourite teams to play against.

Salah has 10 goals and six assists in 15 Premier League matches against Brighton, a team whose aggressive attacking football under Fabian Hurzeler should create an end-to-end game at the Amex Stadium.

That’s the sort of environment in which Salah flourishes. He could break the record on Sunday in his 300th Premier League appearance.